www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology What to see in NYC?

Hello all!
I will be in New York for a few days during my honeymoon, in December, before Christmas.
Any suggestions of things to see would be appreciated, and by that I mean religious and essentially eastern or Oriental christian, preferably but not necessarily catholic.
Remember that I am from Portugal where we have only recently been exposed to a ukranian greek-catholic comunity, but that's it.
Are there any Armenian, Coptic, Syro-Malabar, Ethiopian or Old Ritualist communities that I could visit? Anywhere I can buy eastern christian art for example?
Thanks for your help!
Filipe

St. Michael's Russian Catholic parish is always worth a visit: http://stmichaelruscath.org/ Small but lots of spirit.

Several of the larger Orthodox parishes have bookstores, gift shops, etc.

Check out the Ukrainian Village. It has 4 Orthodox Churches (OCA, Ukr, CarpathoRus, Russian), and St. George's Ukr. Cath. all within a 4 or 5 block radius. Good resturants, the Ukrainian Muesuem, McSorely's Pub, which is the oldest Irish pub in America. Also in the area is St. Mark's Place which is a very good place to people watch.

Take a cab to 2 Ave. and East 7th Street, and you're there.

Dear Filipe:

Here's a link to the unofficial (some might have closed down) directory of Eastern Catholic Churches in the entire State of New York listed alphabetically by City/Town:

http://www.crosslink.net/~hrycak/ch_indx/us-ny.html

Pick New York City, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and adjacent areas.

Congratulations on your wedding and may you a memorable honeymoon!

Amado

Best Orthodox bookstore in town is at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign, Park Avenue and 93rd street (and both the upstairs cathedral and the downstairs chapel are WELL worth stopping in to see). They also sell icon-prints (good ones), CDs, etc.

If you want to venture as far as Westchester, Saint Vladimir's Seminary in Crestwood has an excellent bookstore.

Incognitus

...Further to Incognitus' post....

Westchester isn't that far, and is a twenty to thirty minute ride north of the city from Grand Central Station. Just call St. Vlad's to find out which station to get off on, and how to get there from the station.

It is quite a lovely area any season...

(Ofcourse, I am a little prejudiced since I live in the county)

Alice

P.S. Try to visit the Greek Orthodox Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity on East 73rd Street between First and Second Avenue to peak inside, or to worship on Sunday. Although on the outside it is not impressive, on the inside it truly is.
Because of its central location, you can walk from there to any mid town point, strolling past shops and nice restaurants.

I always visit the Metropolitian Museum of Art. For Roman Catholic churches there are: St. Patrick's Cathedral and St. Francis of Assis on 34th St. Also, the church where my parents were married: St. Vincent Ferrer at 64th and Lexington.

Dear Mike,

Ofcourse, you are right. The Met is phenomenal, and at the time of year Philipe is going, they have a beautiful Christmas tree set up in the Gothic period galleries. There is also a permanent exhibit now of Byzantine art (on the first floor behind the main desk) in addition to all the wonderful Church Art and Architecture of Western Christendom.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, my favorite spot (as anyone who has been reading this forum knows by now! LOL) is a MUST SEE!!!!

In Christ,
Alice

Another plug for the Met. When I visited in September, I picked up a flyer that said that they will have special Fra Angelico exhibition from late October through early next year.

I'll be heading back.........

Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Cathedral (New York) Tel: 212-689-5880

St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral (New York) Architectural Info

(Armenian Catholic Exarchate and St. Ann's Armenian Catholic Cathedral (New York) Tel: 212-477-2030

Thank you so much!
My wife to be is called Ana and has a special devotion to Saint Anne, mother of the Theotokos. I read somewhere that the Armenian catholic cathedral of St. Anne has a relic of her. Is this the same St. Anne?
That would be amazing.
We will be there for about 4 days, and, unfortunately those cannot be dedicated exclusively to religious tourism! But I'll try to fit in as much as possible!
Any more suggestions are more than welcome!
God bless you all!
Filipe

I forgot the most glorius of all !! The Cloisters Museum. Its in Ft. Tryon Park in N. Manhattan, about 1/2 hr. train ride from down town. Its 2 monasteries brought over from Europe, and contains statues, vestments, stained glass windows, chalices,etc. At Christmas time they play tapes of Gregorian Chant. Its a great place to visit while in New York. I hope you get to visit it.

YES, YES, YES! I also forgot...THANKS Mike!
It is wonderful!!!!!! (and in such an awesome and naturally beautiful setting; one of the most beautiful on Manhattan island)

***Phillipe, are you sure that you don't want Mike and me to be your tour guides for your honeymoon trip here! LOL! :p

Filipe:
Don't miss seeing the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine - it is magnificent. Largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.

http://www.stjohndivine.org/

Wishing you and your bride a delightful honeymoon. May God bless your marriage - Mnohaya Lita!
Pavloosh

P.S. The Christmas decorations in NYC are awesome especially Rockefeller Center, Trump Towers, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor, etc. If possible do see the Christmas show at Radio City - it is spectacular.

Having just recently done a bit of research on this topic, I want to point out that the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of St. Ann is no longer in Manhattan (with the phone number given) but in Brooklyn:

St. Ann's Cathedral (Armenian/New York)
167 N. 6th St., Brooklyn
Phone: 1-718-388-4218, Fax: 1-718-486-0615
11am (Armenian)
Take L Subway


Peace,
Alex